Mojo108

Two Mojo Monday sketches in a row!  Woo hoo!  Look at me go!  LOL!

This is my card using Julee’s Mojo Sketch #108

The stamp is from “Gifts of Christmas” and is stamped in Encore Silver on Night of Navy.  The Bermuda Bay panel was edged with Night of Navy ink and the Brushed Silver panel was run thru the Big Shot with the small dot Texturz plate.  Navy grosgrain, silver elastic cord and silver brads finish it off.  I’m not THRILLED with it, but it’s a starting point.  I think I’m going to tweak it some and use it for a swap I’m signed up for!

Thanks for looking!

Mojo 107

Sometimes, the Mojo Monday Sketch just “speaks” to me.  Most Mondays, I make the mistake of looking at the samples from Julee and her design team and they are so stunning that anything I make looks (to me) like a 10 year old made it.  SIGH.  Well, today I really, REALLY liked the sketch.  I even glanced at the samples posted.  And I was STILL able to make something I am happy with.  Yay!

Thanks for another awesome sketch, Julee!  :-)

All supplies are Stampin’ Up!, although the ribbon is, alas, retired: (From the Base up)

• Kraft Card Stock
• Real Red Card Stock
• Craft Mat and Paper Piercer
• Gold Brads
• Brushed Gold Card Stock
• Old Olive Card Stock
• Baroque Motifs
• Old Olive Classic ink
• Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon (retired)
• Circle Scissor Plus
• Whisper White Card Stock (on brushed gold)
• Serene Snowflakes (from the Holiday Mini)
• Encore Gold ink
• Iridescent Ice embossing powder

Thanks for looking!

A Christmas Swap card

My friend, Dixie hosted a Christmas Card swap that was due the 20th of September.  Since I *think* everyone has got their swaps back, here is the card I did:

It is a version of a “Joy Fold Card” (Tutorial can be found HERE on Splitcoaststampers).  The Night of Navy card is 3x3 (punched with the Ticket Corner Punch) and the Brocade Blue card base is 8-1/4” x 4-1/4”.  The piece of Bride Specialty Paper fills the inside of the card and is 4” x 5-1/4”.  The snowflake image was stamped in Night of Navy onto Shimmery white, cut out and then the little inside pieces there were punched out with the 1/4” square punch.  It’s finished off with a Clear Rhinestone Brad in the center.  I added the texture to just the front flap of the Brocade blue by running it thru my Big Shot with just the front section in the “sandwich” and then the back was folded up so it went in between the Texturz Silicone Rubber pad and the Texturz Impression Pad.  The plate I used is in the Texturz Plates Kit #4.  The sentiment is from Four The Holidays, from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  The “spine” is tied off with Gold and Silver Elastic Cord, also from the Holiday Mini.

A cute little bear and a card or two…..

One of the things that we could purchase at Memento Mall at convention was a cute little “Build-A-Bear” wearing a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator apron and “holding” a little rubber stamp that says, “Life without stamps…. Unbearable”  It has a paw print in the middle and the words circle around it.  Sorry the stamp isn’t in the photo.  Well, one of the challenges coming home was to name my bear, who is a boy.   After much consideration, I chose the name Ca-bear-net.  Cute play on words to name the bear of a red wine lover, huh?  Here he is with our new favorite stamp, Medallion:

Yes, he has his own little convention name tag too.

Here are the cards we stamped this week using Medallion.  They were inspired by the card I swapped at Convention and a card by my friend MaryR:

I really like how these turned out.  They are relatively quick and simple but really look great!  Both are stamped and mounted on my new favorite neutral cardstock, Shimmery White.  One uses Bermuda Bay and the other Dusty Durango.  The Teal and Orange Rhinestone brads from the Circle Ice and Circle Fire sets compliment them well.  The center is punched with the 1-3/4” Circle punch and the black layer was cut at 1-7/8 using the Circle Scissor.  The hardest part was the piercing around the border.  The sentiment comes from the Fresh Cuts set and is stamped in Basic Black .  I may make some of these for Christmas cards this year!

Thanks for looking!

Another Convention Swap

Oops. I had this blog post sitting in drafts….. Better late than never, right?

The Card Candy swap was quite a challenge. The last time I did one of these, we were not limited to one particular stamp set. For this swap, we were. I chose Oval All which lends itself well to card candy since all 4 images are designed to be used with the Large Oval and Scallop Oval punches. The problem arose when trying to come up with different ways to use the images without them just being stamped on cardstock, punched and layered. So here is what the final result was:

Many thanks to my friend, Cherie, who gave me the suggestion of doing Faux Metal with this set.

Colors used were Kraft, Chocolate Chip and Real Red. Inks used were Real Red, Chocolate Chip and Craft white along with Versamark on the Faux metal. The buttons are done by coating the clear button with craft ink (Chocolate or Red) and then embossing them with Iridescent Ice. The top two “candies” were stamped onto watercolor paper and then colored using my aqua painter. The top is the It's Beautiful wheel and is accented with Red brads from the Bold Brights set.

On my way home

By the time this posts, the dust will have settled over Salt Lake City.  Convention will be over.  I’m sure I will have lots of FABULOUS photos to share later on this week, but today I am going to show you a little gift I made for James.  James is Angie’s husband and the man who makes Stampin Addicts run.  What started out as a site where our group could chat and share photos has turned into a pretty big deal in just a few months!  So I decided that with all the gifts and swapping frenzy going on around him at Convention, James needed something of his own. 

This is an altered Illi coffee can.  My sister in law drinks the coffee and saves the cans for me.  They are AWESOME to alter because they are perfectly straight and they are mostly just silver.  The DSP used was from Cottage Wall and the new Level 1 Hostess Prints Pack (Basic Gray).  The stickers are Mrs. Grossman and the white brads are from who-knows-where.  The lid is accented with Night of Navy and Old Olive 1/4” Grosgrain ribbon and inside the tin is a bag of Skittles (think candy dish at work size bag, not a “single” size).  It’s simple, but I hope he likes it!

Convention Swap – Day Five

Well, today is the final day of Convention.  We have a keynote speaker in the morning and then after lunch we will have a closing General Session.  Last year they drove a UPS TRUCK out during the closing Session

  

and gave us ALL the Ronald McDonald House Charities stamp set.  In case you don’t know, Stampin’ Up! is a BIG supporter of RMHC and we have a stamp set each year that $2 from every set sold goes to RMHC.  This year’s set is called “Very Thankful” and can be found inside the back cover of the current Idea Book and Catalog

The last swap I have to show you is the one I did for my friend Janice’s Single Layer Card swap.  Sounds easy, but doing a card with out “bulk” is REALLY HARD!  Especially when you turn it into a project like I managed to…..

This baby has more steps than I anticipated when I signed up, that’s for sure!  The card itself is Shimmery White.  Yes, it is my favorite neutral card stock.  Yes, I’m a total addict.  The Real Red is sponged on using a reverse mask, with the rectangle area masked over.  Then I used the reverse mask from the rectangle to stamp the sentiment from Heard From The Heart in Night of Navy and sponge the green, which I *THINK* is Garden Green.  The holes were punched in the front of the card, and the centers were marked on the inside for snowflake placement, then they were backed with packing tape and glittered with Dazzling Diamonds (Glitter Window Technique).  The snowflakes are stamped inside the card using Night of Navy and my trust Stamp A Majig.  Silver brads at the ends of the sentiment added a “low-profile) embellishment.

Soon, Convention will be OVER, but those of us who went will be riding the high from the excitement for WEEKS to come!  And the countdown will soon begin for Convention 2010, I’m sure!

Stay tuned later this week and month for photos from Convention and pictures of some of the swaps I’ll be bringing home!

Convention Swaps – Day Four

This evening we have the Stampin Addicts Meet & Greet event where I am signed up for 4 more organized swaps:  “ATCs” (Artist Trading Cards); “Card Candy”; “One Layer Cards” and “Mini Album”.

Today I will share the easiest swap for me, my ATCs and one that was the harder for me, the Mini Book.

I love ATCs.  I will join an ATC swap every chance I get.  They are baseball card sized and I store them in a binder in baseball card pages, which are 9 to a page.  Conveniently, you can get 10 ATC bases out of a single sheet of 8.5 x 11 cardstock (cut 3 strips on the 8.5” side, two that are 2.5” wide and that will leave a 3.5” strip – then just cut the strips into individual cards – you will get three from each of the 2.5” strips and four from the 3.5”.  Easy peasy!) so most ATC swaps are in groups of 10 where you will get 9 new cards back.  I joined 2 groups for this swap and made these two cards:

  

Similar layouts both with lots of sparkle!  The first uses one of our current Level 2 hostess sets, Asian Artistry.  The image is stamped in Black Craft ink on the Real Red and then embossed with a mixture of Black Embossing Powder with a little bit of Black Cosmo Glitter mixed in.  The Sentiment is stamped in Real Red on Brushed Gold and punched out with the new Modern Label punch and mounted using Dimensionals.  I added Gold brads to the upper corners and mounted the whole thing on a Brushed Gold base.  The second card uses one of our “Under $10” stamps, Dasher, and the sentiment comes from the dove stamp in Gifts Of Christmas.  Using my Hobby Knife, I carefully cut the sentiment away from the image and mounted it separately on a spare block I had.  Dasher is stamped onto Handsome Hunter in Silver Encore ink and then embossed using Iridescent Ice.   The ribbon holes were punched with the Horizontal Slot punch and the Real Red 1/4” Grosgrain was threaded thru and knotted.  Then the whole thing is mounted on Brushed Silver.  I was quite pleased with both of these.

I was going to share my Card Candy today, as that was the most challenging swap for me in this group, but I have lost (accidentally deleted is more like it) the photos I took of that swap, so that one will have to wait until I get back, and that’s IF I remember to take a photo of it there before I give them away!

So for Sharon’s Mini Book swap, I signed up for a “Clear Envelope Album”.  We had to decorate 4 inside pages and the cover.  I decided to do a mini recipe book.  Thanks to my friend, Dixie, who loaned me her “From The Kitchen” set, I was able to make this:

The colors used were Kraft, Real Red, Very Vanilla and Chocolate Chip.  I used Jumbo Antique Brass Eyelets on the binding and Brushed Silver for the dome on the “Voila” Chef’s tray.  I thought it came out pretty cute!

There are several tutorials on the internet for making a Clear Envelope Album.  I added an extra step to mine to allow me to use 4 eyelets on the binding – 2 from the front and 2 from the back so there would not be a rough metal eyelet back showing on the back cover.   I should have taken photos, but I didn’t.  If I find the measurements I used, I will post them when I post the books that I receive in this swap.

The recipe card stamp from this set is only 3x5.  I really wanted more lines so it would fill up the 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 envelope better, so I pulled out my trusty Stamp A Majig and masked the image to make “taller” cards.  I think it was worth the extra work.  The cards are stamped in Chocolate Chip onto Kraft and then layered onto Real Red and again onto Very Vanilla and trimmed with Red Gingham ribbon.  The “indexes” were stamped on Very Vanilla, colored and punched out.  I had wanted to mount them with Dimensionals, but then the cards didn’t fit as well into the envelopes and it added too much bulk to the book.  Oh well.  I can’t wait to see what goodies I get back from this swap!  It was a small group, only 5 people, so I will have 4 books to show you when I get back!

Convention Swaps – Day Three

Today I will share the one, lonely, General Swap I made, plus the cute gift bags I made for my roommates.

This is my General Swap. 

It is a one layer card front, cut to 4 x 5.25 so that it can be easily mounted onto a folded A2 size card with a nice 1/8” border all the way around it.  The Medallion image is stamped in Rich Razzleberry onto Shimmery White cardstock.  The ribbon is Pretty In Pink Taffeta and the sentiment is from the “Fresh Cuts” set and stamped in Rich Razzleberry onto Melon Mambo.  The oval behind it is Rich Razzleberry.  A pair of Gold Brads add just a little bling.  I think this card front looks really nice mounted on Melon Mambo, don’t you?

For my roommates, Brandi and Sara, I put their goodies into a decorated bag (Which is BLATANTLY copied from one of the gift bags I got from my friend Tandra at Easter! – Thanks, Tandra!) rather than wrapping and altering each individual thing (mostly for packing logistics!).  I did make each of them a bag tag and I also made Sara a beaded lanyard for her badge (Brandi already had one).  Here are their goodies:

 

 

The good thing about roomie gifts is that they don’t HAVE to be all Stampin Up! product….. the letters are stickers I have had for YEARS and the flowers are Primas (Brandi) and some fun beaded flowers I found with the wedding stuff at Michael’s (Sara).  The ribbon used on both bags is retired from the Holiday Mini a couple years ago – when we had Purely Pomegranate as an In Color.  I love that ribbon!  Brandi’s bag features Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Pie.  I used the Eyelet Border Punch and the Kindness Jumbo Wheel on both bags.  Sara’s uses the Cottage Wall DSP, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Orchid Opulence.

Oh, and here is MY Lanyard with ALL of my badges on it!

I’ll be back tomorrow with swaps from our Stampin Addicts Meet & Greet party!

Convention Swaps- Day Two

The other two swaps I did for our “Sister Dinner” last night were our “New Catalog Stamp Set” and our “Big Shot Card Front” swaps.  This group does a swap for every new catalog and mini catalog and we decided to hold this one at Convention.  The set I signed up for was “Peace Within”.  I love that kitty……  The only thing I thought looked good when I was coming up with this card was to water color the main image.  Have I mentioned how much I dislike coloring?  I’m just not very good at it.  I’m fine with filling a shape with solid color coverage, but the whole shading thing just does not come easily for me.  Here is my card (I had to do 23 of these):

The Creamy Caramel base is textured using the swirly plate from the Stampin Up Backgrounds 1 Texturz set.  I had originally intended to use the 1” Double Stitched Chocolate Chip ribbon, but I discovered that I only had a few feet left so I switched to the 5/8” Grosgrain.  The image and the sentiment are both stamped onto Water Color Paper and the mats are Ruby Red.  The image is colored using my Watercolor Wonder Crayons, including my newly acquired Neutrals set.  Six gold brads in the opposite corners finish the card.  I was quite pleased with the result!

For Sharon’s “Big Shot Card Front”, the focal image of the card was to be a die cut using the Big Shot, not a stamped image.  One of my favorite “stand alone dies” for the Big Shot is the Snowflake#2. 

For this card I cut out 2 snowflakes from Shimmery White.  One was embossed using Versamark and Iridescent Ice.  I then layered the two and secured them to the Brocade Blue layer with a Clear Rhinestone Brad.  The Brocade Blue piece was textured using that swirly Texturz plate.  The sentiment is from Gifts Of Christmas and was stamped on Shimmery White and punched out with the Modern Label punch, then secured with two Silver Brads.  The whole thing is mounted on Brushed Silver card stock.  It’s REALLY shiny and sparkly!

Thanks for looking!

Convention Swaps – Day One

If Blogger posts these when it’s supposed to, while you are reading this, I should be at Convention!  Well, at least there, starting the party with my online friends!  Tuesday night the group of Stampin Addict Sisters will get together for dinner and swapping.  I am signed up for 4 swaps at our dinner.  The “Secret Sister Convention Survival Tin”; the “Big Shot Card Front”; the “New Stamp Set” and the “All About Me Scrapbook Page” swap. 

So here is the first swap that I completed. 

I am NOT a scrapbooker.  What possessed me to join a scrapbook page swap?  A condition we lovingly call “FOMS” or “Fear Of Missing Something”.  All but a couple of the gals in our group signed up for this swap, including several who are NOT going to Convention.  I couldn’t imagine NOT having this fabulous book filled with pages about my friends!  Yeah, I suffer FOMS pretty badly. 

The page is 8 1/2” square.  The base is Elegant Eggplant and the accent colors are Pink Pirouette (yes, we were “allowed” to use retired stuff on these!), Very Vanilla and Certainly Celery.  There is NO STAMPING on them.  All the text was done on the computer and printed on Very Vanilla card stock.  The little wine glass is actually a photo I took, printed and cut out.  The journaling box is “19 Random Facts About Me” and there is a second “page” of journaling that is behind my photo that has more factual details about me (since the theme *is* “All About Me”). The leaves on my “little flowers” are made with the 5 petal flower punch.  Each one is 2 petals that were run thru the crimper.  Add a little Stylized Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware and some Organza ribbon and there you have it!

Verve Stamps June Release Challenges!

Julee aka Vervegirl is having another release party over on Splitcoast on Friday.  She has 5 sketch challenges up this week and I not only managed to get them all done, but I pulled it off before the Friday deadline! (GASP!)

Here is the link to the info on the Release Party.

And here is a link to the Challenge thread.

As I am horribly behind on birthday cards (I owe friends with birthdays in APRIL cards still!), I decided to do all 5 cards with Verve Stamps “Birthday Surprise” set.  All 5 cards are also done in the Parisian Breeze Specialty Designer Paper  and use Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip card stock (all from Stampin’ Up!).  If you like that DSP, there may still be some left, but it is on the “Last Chance” list and will retire on June 30th.  The Baja Breeze card stock is already sold out.  Normally, I would split these up so I would have blog entries over several days, but I wanted Julee to find these all in one place….

VSJUN01 (and Mojo Monday #92):

This card also uses the 1/4” Chocolate Chip Poly Twill ribbon (retired), Silver Hodgepodge Hardware and Dazzling Diamonds glitter (accenting the present).  The greeting was punched with the Wide Oval Punch and the present is layered onto a Scallop Square Punch piece.  The scallop square and the oval greeting are popped up with Dimensionals.

VSJUN02:

I am *so* not a bird fan, but this little guy is kinda cute!  His hat is colored in So Saffron and is accented with Dazzling Diamonds, as are his wing and tail.  The image panel is sponged with Creamy Caramel ink and the edges are distressed.  The sentiment is punched with the Scallop Circle punch and I used my paper piercer to add some detail around the edge of the card.  The scallop circle is popped up with Dimensionals.

VSJUN03:

This card uses a bit of non-SU stuff…..  The Chocolate Chip satin ribbon is Stampin’ Up!, but retired.  The sticky back pearls came from Michael’s and the glitter around the Wide Oval punched greeting is Stickles.  The greeting oval is sponged with Baja Breeze ink.  The DSP mat was cut by hand and layered onto the big oval (Marvy) punch out.  The base layer of the card was stamped with the big swirly stamp from Baroque Motifs (©Stampin’ Up!) and I used the paper piercer between the scallops on the oval.  The scallop oval is popped up with Dimensionals.

VSJUN04:

I like this layout.  A lot.  I will be using this sketch again!  My only disappointment with this card was that I didn’t have any tiny clear rhinestones handy so I used pink ones.  Not exactly what I wanted, but it works.  The scallop circle is an EK Success punch and the greeting circle is 1-7/8” and cut out with the Circle Scissor.  It is lightly sponged with Baja Breeze and edged in Stickles.  I used the White Gel Pen around the scallops, added the pearls and rhinestones (from Michael’s and the local scrapbook store) and the Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon and layered it onto Whisper White.  The scallop circle is popped up with Dimensionals.

And, finally, VSJUN05:

The Scallop Circle is sponged with Baja Breeze, as is the white panel with the balloons.  The Scallop Circle is popped up with Dimensionals.  The ribbon is the 5/8” Chocolate Chip Grosgrain and I used the paper piercer and the craft mat to add the corner detail on the balloon panel.  I don’t do square cards often, but I really like this layout and I can see using it again.

Thanks to Julee for the AWESOME sketches!

A birthday card…..

Megan’s birthday party was today.  (Remember the invites from my May 22nd post?)  There were about ten sixteen year old girls there, most of whom had spent the night (where there was very little “slumber” going on).  Plus family and family friends.  There was a BBQ and then cake and presents.  So of course, there had to be a birthday card….  In keeping with the Baja and Chocolate theme from the invitations, this is what I made:

It uses Baja Breeze Textured Cardstock and Parisian Breeze Specialty DSP.  Add on the greeting from Sincere Salutations stamped in Chocolate Chip and punched with the large oval  and then layered on a scalloped oval punch out of one of the DSP patterns, 4 rhinestone brads and a flower from the Pretties kit and a corduroy button and voila!  Birthday card! 

Russ is home this weekend and he gets up a LOT earlier than I do in the mornings.  So this morning when HE was up early, Coco felt *I* should be up early as well.  Unfortunately, this followed a late night last night, so I am BEAT.  I need to get cracking on my swaps this week.  Convention is just 45 days away and I only have ONE swap done and have nothing else even STARTED.  EEK!  Wish me luck…..

Michael’s Graduation Card

My graduation anniversary is today.  A LONG, long time ago.  Saturday was Michael’s Graduation party.  There was good food, good friends and a lot of fun!  Wanting to do a special card for Michael, I decided to try one of the “Shutter” or “Peaks & Valleys” cards.  They are very popular on the “blogosphere” right now, but I hadn’t tried one yet.  I used the instructions from my friend Rhonda’s blog, The Stampin’ Bunny.  She got the idea from another blogger who got the idea from someone else, but Rhonda changed the measurements to fit a standard A2 envelope.  YAY! 

Since Michael’s school colors were dark green and white, I used Handsome Hunter Textured card stock (From the Rich Regals assortment 108696) and the Classic Stars Jumbo Wheel (111254) on Whisper White with a Handsome Hunter ink cartridge (105205).  I also used the Large and Small Star punches (110710 & 109045) and some Brushed Gold Card Stock (102935).  Oh, and Dimensionals (104430)!  The sentiment stamps are from the new Verve Set “Dare To Be You”.

Here is the result:

Here is what it looks like closed (color looks better on this one too):

It was a fun card to make and surprisingly easy.  I’ll be making more of these!

Thanks for looking!

The Retired Lists….

This post is lengthy due to the retired lists…. sorry!

The retired stamp list is here……

ABC Alphabet Lower
ABC Alphabet Upper
ABC Images
Absolutely Fabulous
Acuarelas maravillosas
All Scallops
Always In My Thoughts
Baroque
Beautiful Baby
Beautiful Borders
Bella Blossoms
Best Bee Four-Line
Best Bee Three-Line
Best Kind Of Friend
Big Birthday Candle
Big Bold Birthday
Big Deal Alphabet
Big Deal Numbers
Big Flowers
Birthday Wish
Blooming with Love
Boatloads of Love
Celebrations
Central Park
Classic Four-Line
Classic One-Line
Classic Stripes
Classic Three-Line
Classic Two-Line
Contemporary Four-Line
Contemporary One-Line
Contemporary Three-Line
Contemporary Two-Line
Decorative Design
Doodle This
Elegant Cheer
Elegant Flower Four-Line
Elegant Flower Three-Line
Felices fiestas
Flowers in Silhouette
Forever
Frames with a Flourish
Free & The Brave, The
Fun Flowers
Glad Friends
God Is Love
Great Grads
Happiness Is a Journey
Happy Heart Day
Heartfelt Thanks
Heritage Holiday
Holiday Trinkets
Holidays & Wishes
Hugs & Wishes
If the Halo Fits
Illuminations
In Everything Give Thanks
In Good Form
Independence Day
It’s a Sign
Just B
Kindred Spirits
Large Text-Only Simple
Serif One-Line
Large Text-Only Simple
Serif Two-Line
Life’s a Breeze
Little Birdie Told Me, A
Lovely Labels
Many Happy Returns
Morning Soft
One Smart Cookie
Organic Outlines
Outlined for Fun
Perfect Princess
Pinch Proof
Prehistoric Pals
Pretty Amazing
Say It with Scallops
Seaside
Seeing Spots
Short Order Alphabet
Short Order Numbers
Simple Serif Mini
Alphabet & Numbers
Snow Burst
Something New to Love
Stitched Exotics
Sweet Celebrations
Sweet Sampler
Sweet Serendipity
Tableau of Terror
Tag It
Thoughts of Father
Ticker Tape Alphabet
Time to Party
To Have and to Hold
To You & Yours
Wild about You
Wonderful Watercolors
Wonderful You
Zoofari

Hostess Sets:
Comfort Food
Darling Dots
Dear Friend
Dream a Little
Echoes of Kindness
God’s Beauty
Goody-Goody Gumdrops
Itty Bitty Buds
Little Somethin’, A
Rustic Rooster
Sweet Little Sentiments

From the Spanish Catalog, Celebrando Creatividad:
Puntos primorosos
Querida amiga
Sueña un poco
Ecos de bondad
La belleza de Dios
Dulce expresiones
Un regalito
Sentimientos de dulzura

I only have 8 sets that are retiring.  Not too bad.  Here’s what I have that is on the list:

• Boatloads of Love (sad about this- it’s so CUTE!)
• Heartfelt Thanks (but I like what replaced it!)
• Frames With A Flourish
• Big Flowers (sigh- gonna miss this one)
• Lovely Labels (I’ll miss that “Enjoy” stamp)
• Tag It (my “Stamped by” stamp – I will keep using this)
• Birthdays Count (actually this has been moved to the dormant list which we will get on July 1st)
• Dear Friend (hostess set- knew this was going)

The retired accessories list is available as well.  These items are “while supplies last” and several things are already sold out.  The items sold out as of yesterday afternoon are in bold italics:

Item #	Product Description
113979	ACCENTS & ELEMENTS CANVAS CUTS
114019	ACCENTS & ELEMENTS FLEURETTES
112006	ACCENTS & ELEMENTS FLOWER FUSION II
116210	Birthdays Count
112092	BUTTON BOUQUET
111352	CARD STOCK BAJA BREEZE 8-12 X 11
111346	CARD STOCK IN COLOR 12 X 12
111347	CARD STOCK IN COLOR 8-1/2 X 11
111353	CARD STOCK KIWI KISS 8-1/2 X 11
108590	CARD STOCK NATURALS ASST 12X12
111350	CARD STOCK PACIFIC POINT 8-1/2 X 11
111351	CARD STOCK PINK PIROUETTE 8-1/2 X 11
111348	CARD STOCK RIDING HOOD RED 8-1/2 X 11
111349	CARD STOCK TANGERINE TANGO 8-1/2 X 11
111345	CARD STOCK TEXTURED IN COLOR 12 X 12
111844	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL BAJA BREEZE
111842	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL KIWI KISS
111840	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL PACIFIC POINT
111843	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL PINK PIROUETTE
111839	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL RIDING HOOD RED
111841	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL TANGEIRNE TANGO
111833	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD BAJA BREEZE
111835	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD KIWI KISS
111837	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD PACIFIC POINT
111838	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD PINK PIROUETTE
111836	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD RIDINGHOOD RED
111834	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD TANGERINE TANGO
102264	COLUZZLE STARTER KIT
114338	COURDUROY BUTTONS KIWI KISS
114341	COURDUROY BUTTONS PACIFIC POINT
104310	CRAFTERS TOOL KIT
112966	Curly Label Bundle* just the stamp set, not the punch!
105143	DAYS TO REMEMBER 6X6 FR
114351	DESIGNER HARDWARE HOORAY
114350	DESIGNER HARDWARE SOHO
113981	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER BELLA BIRDS
112041	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER BELLA ROSE
113980	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER CANDY LANE
113966	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE
112464	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER MANCHESTER
112157	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS BAJA BREEZE
112161	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS KIWI KISS
112150	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS PACIFIC POINT
112156	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS PINK PIROUETTE
112155	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS RIDING HOOD RED
112153	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS TANGERINE TANGO
112471	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER RAINBOW SHERBET
113975	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER RASPBERRY TART
113993	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SPECIALTY PARISIAN BREEZE
114039	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SPECIALTY ROCKABILLY
114037	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SPECIALTY SWEET SLUMBER
112468	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SWEET ALWAYS
112042	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER URBAN GARDEN
113978	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER URBAN OASIS
112461	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER WASHINGTON APPLE
112010	DIE CUTS BLOOMS AGAIN
113950	DIE CUTS BUILD-A-FAIRYTALE
110730	DIE CUTS POCKETS & PIECES
114528	Embosslit Flower
107288	ENVELOPE WHISPER WHITE EXTRA LARGE
100900	GIFT SACKS WHITE
115535	Hand Drawn Bundle
101259	HEMP TWINE BLACK
102875	HEMP TWINE RED
112970	LO MEJOR DE TODO
116209	Note of Thanks
112139	NOTES CAROUSEL II
111337	NOTES GIFT ASSORTMENT II
111336	NOTES SCALLOP II
111338	NOTES TEXTURED LOVE ASSORTMENT II
107272	PUNCH KEY TAG
109044	PUNCH SNOW BLOSSOM
111847	RIBBON DOUBLE STITICHED BAJA BREEZE 1"
111363	RIBBON GROSGRAIN PINK PIROUETTE 1 1/4"
111375	RIBBON GROSGRAIN STRIPED BAJA BREEZE 5/8"
111370	RIBBON GROSGRAIN STRIPED PACIFIC POINT 5/8"
111373	RIBBON GROSGRAIN STRIPED PINK PIROUETTE 5/8"
111374	RIBBON GROSGRAIN STRIPED RIDING HOOD RED 5/8"
111371	RIBBON GROSGRAIN STRIPED TANGERINE TANGO 5/8"
111372	RIBBON GROSGRIAN STRIPED KIWI KISS 5/8"
114317	RIBBON ORIGINALS DRESS UP
114316	RIBBON ORIGINALS PIG TAILS
114318	RIBBON ORIGINALS VALET
111364	RIBBON POLY TWILL SO SAFFRON 7/8"
111879	RIBBON SATIN KIWI KISS VERY VANILLA
111365	RIBBON TAFFETA RIDING HOOD RED
111277	RUB ONS A PERFECT DAY
113887	RUB ONS BRIGHT DELIGHTS
111416	RUB ONS CHATEAU BELLA
113884	RUB ONS FASHION DISTRICT
111415	RUB ONS GREATEST MOMENTS
111414	RUB ONS HIDDEN GARDEN
112735	RUB ONS HIDDEN GARDEN BLOSSOMS
113888	RUB ONS MANY OCCASIONS
113943	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN 2 SWEET
112054	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN BEST EVER
113936	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN HOPPY MEMORIES
112179	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN LOVE STORIES
112172	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN ROCK A BYE BOY
112165	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN ROCK A BYE GIRL
113911	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN SUNSHINE GARDEN
113925	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN SWEET NOTHINGS
114605	SIMPLY SENT CARD KIT MORE THOUGHTS
109231	SIMPLY SENT CARD KIT SENDING HAPPY THOUGHTS
109123	STAMPIN WRITE JOURNALER BASIC BROWN
106961	STAZON REFILL WHITE
101399	STIPPLE BRUSHES
113991	TASTE OF TEXTILES
105668	TATTOO KIT I
105669	TATTOO KIT II
Wheels:
111253	Blooms & Bulbs
109684	Doodle
111257	Happy, Happy Birthday
109692	Love
109568	My ABCs
109682	Perfectly Pretty
109687	See You Around
109683	So Swirly
111260	Something Fishy
111262	Stems & Silhouettes
105516	Watercolor Joy

What surprised me more was the stuff that DIDN’T retire in the accessories.  One look thru the list and you will see that we kept a LOT of DSP over from this catalog into the next.  Pretty much all that retired was “In Color” stuff.  Speaking of which…..  I placed my preview order on June 1st.  Yes, I expedited.  Why?  Because MY DEMO COPY OF THE NEW CATALOG came with it!  To quote my friend, Ellie, “SQUEEEEEEEAL!!!!!!”.  It has been well loved since I got it last Wednesday.  LOL!  Unfortunately, they have a gag order on us that the only stuff we can even share descriptions of on the web is the stuff from the preview, so MY LIPS ARE SEALED!  I also got my sampler pack of the new In Color Cardstock, a couple of the new ink pads and reinkers and the new Razzleberry Lemonade DSP (LOVE IT!).  This year’s in colors will take a while to grow on me.  I only have one color I LOVE off the bat and that is Rich Razzleberry.  Yeah, it’s PURPLE. 

I am knee deep in starting my Convention Swaps.  I have one project (the biggest and most daunting) done.  It was a 8.5” single scrap page layout about me.  I had to do 31 of them.  They are done.  I will post all the convention stuff in August.  I did get a graduation card done for Michael which I will post tomorrow.  Formatting the retired lists took longer than I wanted!  Thanks for looking!

It’s that time again…..

The (now) annual Stampin’ Up!® Retirement list will be available tomorrow.  This time they are publishing not just the list of retiring STAMPS, but ACCESSORIES as well.  In the past we have had to wait until 2 weeks before the new catalog to know what accessories were retiring.  Before I joined SU, I’m told they didn’t get a retired accessory list AT ALL.  Which can be pretty brutal for those trying to plan Convention swaps.  LOL!

The amazing JanTInk has, for some time now, been publishing her prediction of what stamps will be on the retired list.  Here is a link to her blog from today with her predictions, and here is the list of what I have on that list and my comments on their possible retirement:

• Boatloads of Love (I like this set, but I won’t be too upset if it retires)
• Dreams du Jour (Like this set a lot, but used it for Convention swaps last year.  It can go.)
• Heartfelt Thanks  (Noooooo!!!!)
• True Friend  (another set I used for swaps- it can go)
• Boho Backgrounds (a very versatile set.  Hope they replace it with something similar)
• One of a Kind (I use the “for you” stamp in this set a LOT)
• Big Flowers (This and little flowers are so versatile.  I will miss them both)
• Little Flowers
• Sincere Salutations (Nooooo!  I *JUST* bought this set!)
  

From the Dormant List :

• Season of Joy  (A good holiday set.  Hoping for a better one in the new catalog)

We’ll see what retires tomorrow!

A quick little card….

Our 16th wedding anniversary was this month.  Here is the card I did for Russ:

Supplies used were all Stampin’ Up!:  Stamp set is Dreams du Jour; Whisper White, Pink Pirouette and Chocolate Chip cardstock; Chocolate Chip ink pad, Aqua Painter with Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red ink pads; Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon, gold brads and the Stampin’ Up! Exclusive Texturz Plate set for the Big Shot.  I’m really going to miss using Pink Pirouette.  It’s an awesome color.  Practically a neutral for me now.  This Riding Hood Red Taffeta is going to be missed as well.  I hope they replace it with another red taffeta.  It’s been nice to have a bold color in the taffeta.

Thanks for looking!

I found it!

I couldn't find the picture of my last swap card ANYWHERE!  I knew I had taken one, because I had sent it to Cherie and Lori to ask about the ribbon color.  Well, I finally tracked down the sent e-mail and realized I hadn't PHOTOGRAPHED it, I had SCANNED it and it was in the scanner files.  SIGH.  So, without any further delay, here is the 4th and final card I did for the General Swaps!

The patterned paper is from the Bella Rose DSP, the ribbon is Mellow Moss (so happy that we will now have Old Olive in the 1/4" Grosgrain, as well as Chocolate chip!) with a Caramel Gingham knot to accent.  The stamp set is 113622 Enjoy Every Moment and is stamped in Chocolate Chip craft ink onto the Apricot Appeal and then matted onto the Tangerine Tango.  The sentiment is from the same set and is stamped in Chocolate Chip on Tangerine Tango and punched out using the Word Window Punch and attached with 2 Gold Brads.  A very clean, simple and demonstratable card!

The last chapter....

And, here, Dear Stampers, are the rest of my Convention Swaps!  

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I know that I took a photo of the last card that I did.... I need to find it.  If I do, I'll blog it on Monday.  Let me just say that the last card was ASSSEMBLED ON THE PLANE and we had a little line going.... I glued the base on, passed it to Lori.  She put my label on the back and passed it to Cherie.  Cherie put them in their clear envelopes!  SMOOCHES, GIRLS!!!!!!  

What's sad is I don't even remember what STAMPS I used!  I do remember that it used the Tangerine Tango and I know there's a prototype photo on this computer somewhere because I was trying to decided between Mustard and Olive Ribbon and e-mailed it to a couple of my "Creative Advisors"... LOL!  You'll just have to wait patiently for it!

Convention ATC Swaps!

I hosted an ATC swap at Convention. We had a few no-shows, some of which I knew were missing Convention entirely, but still ended up with about 40 of the almost 50 cards that "signed up". Not bad! Here are the cards I did - I filled one of the spots for a gal who had to drop and the Red and Black card was my thank you to everyone who joined:

..............................................................................

And here is the slideshow of all the cards in my swap:

Make a Smilebox slideshow